gencat(1)gencat(1)NAMEgencat - generate a formatted message catalog file
SYNOPSIS
catfile msgfile ...
DESCRIPTION
Message catalogs allow a program to process input and produce output
according to local customs and languages. For details, see
The command merges each message source msgfile into a formatted message
catalog catfile that can be accessed by (see catgets(3C)). If catfile
does not exist, it is created. If catfile exists, its messages are
included in the new catfile. If set and message numbers collide, the
new message text in file replaces the old message text in catfile. A
msgfile consists of message, directive, and comment lines (all without
leading spaces or tabs) described below. Except as noted, fields are
separated by one or more space or tab characters.
If is specified as catalog file, standard output is used.
If is specified for an instance of message file, standard input is
used.
A directive specifies the set s, of the
messages that follow until the next or
end-of-file appears. The set number s is
an unsigned integer in the range 1
through Any string following the set num‐
ber is treated as a comment. If a direc‐
tive is not specified, messages are put
in the default set
Set numbers must be in ascending order
within a msgfile but need not be contigu‐
ous.
A directive deletes the message set identi‐
fied by the set number s, from an exist‐
ing message catalog. Any string follow‐
ing the set number is treated as a com‐
ment.
m message_text A message line specifies a message number
m, and associated message text. The mes‐
sage number m is an unsigned integer in
the range 1 through The message_text is a
C string, including spaces, tabs and \
(backslash) escapes, but by default with‐
out surrounding quotes (see directive
below). The message number m is sepa‐
rated from the message_text by a single
space or tab character. The message_text
begins with the first character following
the separator and ends at new-line.
Extra spaces or tabs (including any
trailing spaces or tabs) are considered
part of the message_text.
The message_text of a message line is
stored in catfile with message number m
and set number s specified by the most
recent directive.
Message numbers must be in ascending
order within a set, but need not be con‐
tiguous.
Note that the space or tab separator dis‐
tinguishes insertion of a null message
from deletion of a message. If a message
line has a number and separator but no
text, the message number and an associ‐
ated null message string are stored in
catfile. If a message line has a number
but neither separator nor text, the mes‐
sage number and its associated message
text are deleted from catfile.
If the option is specified, the length of mes‐
sage_text must be no more than − 1 bytes.
If the option is not specified, the
length of message_text must be no more
than bytes. See catgets(3C), for message
length limits imposed by these routines.
A directive specifies a quote character q,
used to surround message_text and make
leading and trailing space visible in a
message line. Any string following the
specified quote character q is treated as
a comment. By default, or if a quote
character q not is supplied, quoting of
message_text is not recognized.
A followed by a space or tab is treated as
a comment and can appear anywhere in a
file. A line consisting of zero or more
spaces or tabs is treated as a comment
line.
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EXTERNAL INFLUENCES
Environment Variables
provides a default value for the internationalization variables that
are unset or null. If is unset or null, the default value of "C" (see
lang(5)) is used. If any of the internationalization variables con‐
tains an invalid setting, will behave as if all internationalization
variables are set to "C". See environ(5).
if set to a non-empty string value, overrides the values of all of the
other internationalization variables.
determines the interpretation of text as single and/or multi-byte char‐
acters, the classification of characters as printable, and the charac‐
ters matched by character class expressions in regular expressions.
determines the locale that should be used to affect the format and con‐
tents of diagnostic messages written to standard error and informative
messages written to standard output.
determines the location of message catalogs for the processing of
International Code Set Support
Single- and multi-byte character code sets are supported.
WARNINGS
The directive is not currently supported on the HP MPE and RTE operat‐
ing systems.
AUTHOR
was developed by HP and the X/Open Company, Ltd.
SEE ALSOdumpmsg(1), findmsg(1), insertmsg(1), catgets(3C), catopen(3C).
STANDARDS CONFORMANCEgencat(1)
